Media Expert, Producer Vy Higginsen Keynote Speaker at UW Celebration

December 12, 2012

Media expert Vy Higginsen, a music producer and the first
black woman radio personality in New York City’s prime-time market, will be the
keynote speaker for the 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. March and Days of Dialogue
(MLK/DOD) celebration Jan. 21-25 at the University of Wyoming.

Her talk, free and open to the public, will be Thursday,
Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. Her speech will be one of many
varied presentations during the weeklong celebration.

“Mind the Gap” is the theme of the 12th annual MLK/DOD. UW honors
the continuing impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his life and ideals
through this celebration, say co-chairs Kate Steiner and Erin Olsen. The
activities renew UW's commitment to making the campus and Wyoming a more
welcoming and empowering place for people from different backgrounds,
heritages, orientations or abilities, they say.

Born and raised in Harlem, Higginsen is a recognized black pioneer among the city’s media elite. Her
impressive list of firsts:

-- The first black woman
radio personality in the prime time New York City market on WBLS; the first woman to
host a morning show on New York radio at WWRL; and the first woman in advertising
sales at Ebony magazine.

-- The first black
woman to produce a drama on Broadway with “Joe Turner's Come and Gone” by American
playwright August Wilson.

-- The writer,
producer and director of “Mama, I Want to Sing,” the longest-running, off-Broadway
musical in American theatre history.

The gospel musical
debuted in 1983 and was turned into a film this year. The stage version ran an
unprecedented eight years and 2,200 performances at the Heckscher Theatre in
East Harlem. From there, the show was presented in cities from Philadelphia to
San Francisco, followed by international acclaim with performances in Austria,
Japan, Switzerland, London, Italy, Turkey and Greece.

Two singers will perform songs from Higginsen’s stage work
after her keynote presentation.

Higginsen speaks
from the heart through a lifetime of accomplishment. Among her many titles are producer,
publisher, playwright, lyricist, author, editor, radio personality, educator, philanthropist
and interfaith minister.

As founder and
executive director of the Mama Foundation for the Arts, Higginsen is the
primary force behind her foundation's daily duties and its long-term goals. The
foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing talented black
youths in the arts.

Many other
activities are scheduled throughout the week, including the annual MLK march
from the Albany County Courthouse to the Wyoming Union at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21.
The Dr. Willena Stanford Community Supper follows at 4:45 p.m. Stanford was a
longtime UW African American and Diaspora Studies instructor.

For a complete list
of MLK/DOD events, visit the website at www.mlkdod.com.